Page 59 of Gilded Wicked Mirrors
Midnight smiled. “Oh, you’re good. If you promise to come and visit me again, I will give you no unintended consequences.”
Quinn sucked in a deep breath and thought about all the ways Midnight could try to twist the bargain. She combed through every alternative she could think of until she landed on the cost and the wording she was willing to be bound by.
“I’ll agree to a small lock of hair taken from the bottom of my head for each question I ask.” Quinn held out a very small sectionof hair between her fingers. “As long . . . as long as you never use my hair to spell me or to hurt me or use me in any way . . . or to hurt my friends. And when I come and visit you again, I can leave whenever I want.”
Midnight furrowed her brow. “I don’t play tricks on humans. I solemnly swear on my peach feathered wings that I’ll never ever, ever spell you . . . unless asked.” Peach-colored wings sprouted from her back with her words. “And I agree to all the other things you’ve said. You have a deal, little human.”
Quinn couldn’t see any more traps, but just in case, she refused to respond until she thought it through again. Eventually, she said, “I agree on the terms established.”
“Wonderful.” Midnight clapped her hands together.
“What are these tattoos?” Quinn asked as she showed her wrist and the mirror tattoo. She figured she would start with the tattoo and then ask about the Blood Mirrors.
Midnight’s answer made absolutely no sense and started with eight horrifying words. “Your future is cloaked in blood and death.”
Twenty-One
“Midnight, that is enough,” Blood said as she rolled her eyes.
“That is not my name.” Midnight pouted and crossed her arms in childlike defiance.
Ignoring the pink-haired girl, Blood said, “The tattoo symbolizes the Blood Council.” Blood glanced over her shoulder before continuing in a rush. Almost as if she didn’t hurry, the other mirror might intervene. “The Council is designed to govern and hide the existence of vampires through the laws known as the Vampire Accords.”
Hide the existence of vampires.
A spider of fear surged down Quinn’s spine. She was right! Her suspicions, all of the fang markings on the bodies, all pointed to the irrevocable truth that vampires were still alive.
Midnight glared a river of daggers at Blood and crossed her arms. “Hmph, you’re absolutely no fun. You give her all the stupid answers.”
Blood rolled her shoulders back and faced the other girl—mirror. “Your deal didn’t say I couldn’t. Perhaps you should have been more specific.”
Quinn’s insides churned as she watched the showdownbetween the two powerful beings. As the truth about vampires stirred her insides and clamped her mouth tightly shut.
“Fine,” Midnight said with a huff as she threw her hands up like a two-year-old having a tantrum. “You’re technically correct. But next time, I’ll muzzle you.”
“Next time.” Blood’s smile was victorious poison.
Confusion raked through Quinn’s blood. Why was Blood helping? But more importantly, could she trust the mirror? The mirror that she wore around her neck and seldom took off.
Quinn recoiled, and her muscles quivered with tension, and she tried to focus herself back on the moment. “I need to clarify: vampires are alive?”
“That was another question.” Midnight wrinkled her nose with glee.
Shit, shit, shit.Quinn needed to be more careful, or she’d leave the mirror with absolutely no hair. Oh, and she really should’ve ensured her hair would grow back. It’d just be like a mirror bargain for it to be gone forever.
“I’ll take your hair now.” Midnight held out a hand.
“You never answered my question.”
“You said every question asked. I never said I had to answer the question.” Midnight’s voice was a singsong soprano.
Blood cleared her throat, and she glared. “I thought you said you don’t trick humans.”
Midnight scoffed, clearly taking offense. “That wasn’t a trick. I told her exactly what I would do. She failed to specify that I had to answer the question she asked.”
“You’re all the same.” Blood shook her head.
“What are you like, nineteen?” Midnight’s voice was suddenly older and as dark as a bottomless pit. “When you’ve been trapped in your cage for hundreds of years, you’ll understand.” Midnight’s demeanor shifted again back to the joyous yet eccentric teen. “Plus, I am a nice mirror. I don’t even ask for people’s souls like most of the others.”
